


Trapped

by ACatsLasagna



Series: The Worst Case Scenarios [1]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Canon Compliant, DreamSMP - Freeform, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Gen, Mentions of Tommy's exile, Panic Attacks, Pogtopia events mentions, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tommy has PTSD, dream is the villain
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:47:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29645301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ACatsLasagna/pseuds/ACatsLasagna
Summary: Inspired by Tommy's recent stream as of February 21st 2021TW/CW Panic Attack, References to past trauma, Claustrophobia (I do not have claustrophobia, if I've described it incorrectly or offensively please let me know)Tommy's final prison visit, he's shutting the book. Cutting Dream out of his life forever.Things just had to go wrong.So so wrong.
Series: The Worst Case Scenarios [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2178384
Comments: 6
Kudos: 79





	1. Boxed Like a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> TW/CW: PANIC ATTACK, REFERENCES TO PAST TRAUMA, CLAUSTROPHOBIA (i do not have claustrophobia, if ive written it incorrectly or offensively please let me know)

Everything was fine, Tommy was doing fine. This was the last time he would ever see Dream, last time he'd ever have to go inside the prison. His last time inside _Pandora's Vault_. The last time Sam would ever guide him through the halls. He was smiling, though the blackstone walls filled him with an anxiety that bled through into his rambling about how messed up Dream had left him as a result of exile. He didn't even care if Sam was listening, he just needed something to listen to even if it was his own voice. 

**Just like last time. Go in, follow Sam. Wait for the lava to recede.**

He turned around to talk to Sam, opening his mouth to speak. His words fell on deaf ears, this was The Warden, not Sam. 

"Face the lava, Tommy." 

The boy swallowed and obeyed, though he found difficulty closing his eyes. The lava was mesmerizing, just like it was every time he ventured into the nether, never able to cross through the other portal. He clenched his fists in an attempt to cease the trembling. It was over, he was free, he was in what was left of L'Manberg. So why did he feel so stifled? Why did Dream still have him on a leash? He beat Dream, he and Tubbo beat him with the help of their friends. They were safe. 

So why did he feel like Dream still had power over him? 

It went like it had the previous visit, he ranted at the inmate, rambling about how fucked up Dream had made his mental state. Letting out everything he'd been keeping in, everything only Tommy knew. It was going fine. 

Everything was fine, until the explosions started. The sound rang through his ears, his eyes wide as he stared at the crying obsidian dotting the ceiling. A soft gasp shuddered against his ribs. His fingers started trembling, his hand jerking to his hip, reaching for a weapon that wasn't there. _Defenseless._

This couldn't be happening, it can't absolutely not. There was no way. 

He was trapped here with Dream. Trapped _Trapped_ **_Trapped_ ** . Boxed like a fish with Dream. Trapped in a box of obsidian, inside an inescapable cube of lava. With. **_Dream_ **. 

"It's gonna be just like exile! We can bond, this is going to be great!" Was Dream's voice always this foreboding?

Was he always breathing this fast? Why is everything getting smaller, it's getting darker. Why did everything sound muffled? Tommy couldn't see anything but what was right in front of him. Lava. Lava, hot endless, inescapable lava. 

**I can't breathe, I can't breathe, Sam where are you? Get me out get me out please. I can't do this again, not again, not again. Not Dream. Not Dream. Sam please, Sam help. Not more TNT, no more explosions, please, god fuck. Sam please.**

"SAM! I'M READY TO LEAVE! SAM PLEASE!" Tommy's chest heaved despite how shallow his breathing was. How could this happen? He was closing the book. He was cutting Dream out of his life. 

"We're gonna have a great week! I'm so excited to have company. Here, we can write books together. You can write 'How to Sex 9' or something." Dream was smiling as he spoke, Tommy could tell just from the sound of it. The broken, grinning mask hiding all but one of ~~the man~~ monster's menacing green eyes. While he was speaking, Dream pressed a blank book into the boy's hands. 

Tommy did the one thing he knew he had to do with it. He threw it into the wall of lava, the flames engulfing the leather and paper reflecting in his teary eyes. 

"Dream let me out! Call for Sam, if he...if he hears you making a fuss he'll come…" The boy demanded, voice shaking ever so slightly as he turned to face the man in question. 

The rushing in his ears began upon hearing Dream laugh, mentioning something about a security issue. _You signed the contract Tommy, you're in here with me for up to a week. I should know._ **_I wrote it_ ** . His head felt too full, the pressure building behind his eyes. He refused to cry in front of Dream, he refused to be weak again. _He_ had the power here, not Dream, not anymore. 

Except he didn't. Sam was in charge. Yet another part of the contracts he signed. The walls continued to close in around him, for a second he could have sworn he saw a Guardian appear and attack him. He was losing it, in front of Dream of all people. 

He ran to the frame that previously contained the inmate's only connection to the outside. Tommy yanked it off the wall and snapped it in half, wood splintering into two jagged, makeshift weapons. There was too much fear and adrenaline pumping through him to notice the sharp prickling pain of the wood snapping against his palms. He had to protect himself, Dream was dangerous. The panicked boy backed himself up against a wall and shimmied towards the lava wall, yelling for ~~the Warden~~ Sam.

"SAM THIS ISN'T FUNNY! LET ME OUT SAM!!" 

**_"Wait wait I have an idea, now he can't breathe."_ **The sound of Tubbo's voice along with Techno and Wilbur's amused voices filled his skull.

**Tubbo? Wait no no no wait. Let me out let me out let me out. Technoblade let me out, Wilbur please. Phil help, Phil help please. PHI-**

"PHIL!!" He screamed into the lava in front of him, gasping for air as he fell to his knees. Not caring that the lava was close enough that he could feel the heat on his eyes where tears began streaming down his cheeks. Dull pain throbbed at his palms where he pressed them against the bumpy obsidian floor. He could have sworn he could feel the ceiling pressing down on him, pressure pushing the air from his lungs. 

Now he was trapped with Dream, not just in his life, he was _living_ with Dream now. _Living with Dream in an obsidian box, surrounded by lava._ The sounds of explosions started getting more distant, more muffled, the rushing in his ears flooding his hearing. He could barely hear the sound of Dream shouting his name as the world went dark. 

Tommy was trapped. Alone with the villain of the SMP. 


	2. The Reason :)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy wakes up and Dream goes back to his manipulation tactics. 
> 
> Who really is the reason for the hurt and chaos on the SMP?
> 
> TW: gaslighting, manipulation

Dark. Everything was dark. Then a sound came into focus out of being muffled. Someone was talking to him, muttering reassurance. That same someone was soothingly petting and combing through his hair. Tommy groaned softly and started to open his eyes, seeing a vague shade of green.

"Tubbo?..." He mumbled drowsily, damn his head hurt. It throbbed now that he was conscious to feel it; he had to shut his eyes again. He must've fallen, hit his head or something. 

"Not Tubbo, Tommy." A relatively deep chuckle came from above. It didn't match the way Tubbo laughed, not in the slightest. He tried to open his eyes again, they adjusted slightly. It didn't sound like Sam either and it didn't have the accent that Phil had. So that only left…

"...dream?" His voice, hoarse from screaming, shook slightly as his eyes registered the eerie, white mask. Tommy, now very much awake, found himself lying flat. The hard obsidian floor poking at his back, but his head laid on something soft...like a person. His eyes blew wide, electricity arcing up his spine and jolting him up to a sitting position. The boy's head narrowly missed Dream's mask as he yanked his body upwards. 

**Stay cool Big T, you can’t let him know how scared you are. Which you're not! You're a big man, not scared at all.**

His head spun at the suddenness of his movement, his hand coming up to press against his forehead. Dream reached over to touch the boy's hair again, to which he leaned into it instinctively, reminded of Phil and Wilbur. 

Then he froze and glared back towards the offending blank smile. 

_ "Don't fucking touch me." _

"Oh come on Tommy, is that any way to speak to a friend?" Dream tilted his head, smile forever unmoving. His one exposed eye holding false kindness and friendly disposition. Tommy knew that look well, but it still had an effect on him. His shoulders subconsciously relaxed slightly. 

"You're not my  _ friend _ , green bitch boy." He grumbled softer, but still tried to keep his venom as a defense, tugging his arms close around his lanky body. 

"Oh you may think that now, but eventually you'll remember how much  _ fun _ we had together. It'll be just like old times. Besides, the two of us had more fun than anyone." The masked man chuckled and sighed as if he were reminiscing on good memories, his hand still combing through Tommy's hair. In a fucked up kind of way, they probably were good memories for Dream.

The two of them let that simmer in silence, Tommy actively staring at the lava and trying to keep his breathing calm. He didn't want to pass out again, not in front of Dream. It was never fun when Dream turned Tommy's mistakes and jokes into his little games. Dream's games were never fun, but...not all of Dream's exile visits were bad. 

Then he realized, Dream hadn't hurt him in here. He couldn't, Sam wouldn't hesitate to demolish him the moment lockdown was over. But….

**No, no absolutely not. He's a fucking bitch boy green bastard. He never cared about me, he just wanted me gone.**

Tommy shook his head, knocking his thoughts loose for a moment as he stood up, away from the older man. 

"Something wrong, Tommy?" The green bastard in question looked up, a smile apparent in his voice. Even as Dream just sat there on the floor, he held power over Tommy. Everything about this situation was inescapable. The obsidian, the lava...and Dream. He knew how to get into the boy's head, he knew how to twist words in endless tangles of confusion for Tommy. 

"I won't let you manipulate me again, Dream. You're in here to make sure you never hurt anyone again." His fists were clenched, palms sore from the day before where he broke an item frame with bare hands and proceeded to push his palms into the obsidian on the floor. 

"What are you talking about? I never manipulated you. Yeah I lied to you sometimes, but not all the time. It's not really my fault you believed me when I lied." Clothing shifted with Dream's movements, he stood up and slowly walked near Tommy, not too close though. "I thought Phil raised you to be smarter than that. Thought at least maybe Wilbur had taught you some things. But looks like they failed at that….among other things. I guess it runs in the family." He was most certainly smiling again, asshole. 

Scared blue eyes followed green fabric as it began slowly circling the sixteen year old. Briefly it reminded Tommy of stories he'd heard about sharks and their prey. He took a breath and swallowed, shutting his eyes for a moment, then opening them once more. 

"You don't know anything about my family you fucking prick." Tommy huffed out, gritting his teeth. 

Another chuckle, fucking green bastard. 

"That's where you're wrong Tommy! I know your family better than you do! Who did Wilbur turn to for help with blowing up L'Manberg the first time? Who did Phil and Techno side with the second time? You failed them, they knew I was trustworthy, I wouldn't go back on my word. But you did. A thousand times over!"

He wanted to be angry, he wanted to shout expletives at the top of his lungs, but he found no air to use. Tommy was angry, but Dream was right. His family continuously left him in favor of the masked man, even Tubbo, who was like a brother to the boy. They all sided with Dream eventually….was it his own fault? His fists shook, knuckles white as he clenched them into oblivion. He couldn't look at Dream anymore, so he opted for the floor, staring at it to avoid crying in front of him again. Maybe it  _ was _ his fault. 

After all, it was Tommy who faltered in Pogtopia. Tommy who had the idea to grief George's house. Tommy who went against probation. Tommy who went back to Tubbo after Technoblade hid him from Dream and took care of him. 

It wasn't Dream. He didn't make anyone do anything. He offered ultimatums, but Tommy was the agitator. 

Dream wasn't the reason. 

Tommy was. 


	3. What Does a Monster Look Like?

At this point Tommy had nearly chewed off all of the skin on either side of his fingernails. Thoughts of how many times it had been  _ Tommy's fault _ that bad things happened. He was only certain of a few of them, but he'd been blamed for countless conflicts. The stories of Before on the SMP played on loop through his head. Stories of a man thriving with a few friends, creating a whole land for people to come and live. 

According to these stories, Dream was a normal man before Tommy showed up as the unstable variable. Everything was balanced, with few altercations. Something about the boy and his actions set Dream off. 

The unsettling "museum" of attachments came to mind. Where Dream had taken him and Tubbo to seemingly flaunt his power and monologue like a classic villain. Then memories of the events leading up to his exile. 

~ **_"You're afraid of me, Dream."~_ **

**I'm the only person who stood up to Dream from the start.**

A lightbulb went off inside Tommy's head as he turned to face Dream. 

"Did I make you like this? Or were you always a control freak? If I caused this, then I guess I really am a Big Man, making you change your whole personality to... _ this _ ." Tommy's thoughts had moved from self deprecation to actually thinking about Dream's behavior. 

"I'm not a control freak, Tommy. You just caused too much chaos on the server for me to let you roam unsupervised or without punishment." The other blond scoffed as if this was obvious, casually sat against the far wall. One of his legs was out straight while the other was bent, being used as an armrest for himself.

"But that's not all, you said it yourself down in that fucked up museum of yours.  _ I'm too important for you to actually kill _ . You wanted to use me to get your power back.  _ You even threatened to kill Tubbo! _ You're smart enough to know how fucked up that is, Dream! You wanted to put me-...!" The boy's eyes went wide, his face paling at the realization. Nausea built up inside his stomach and up his throat, forming an anxious clump he had to swallow back down. 

_ This was the prison Dream was talking about. He wanted to put Tommy in here. He wanted to box Tommy in exactly like this.  _

Dream got what he wanted after all. 

"Y-You really are a monster, Dream…" A nervous, shuddering laugh came out of him in an attempt to hide his emotions. Then an amused chuckle and a sigh left the seated man as he moved to stand. 

"You keep saying that! And yet-" Dream's scarred hand came up to undo the clasp holding his mask in place. Tommy backed away slightly. The sound of sneakers squeaking against obsidian became the only noise in this box. He could've sworn he could hear his own blood rushing in this quiet. Then the mask came off. 

"Yet I still look like a man. You know what monsters look like, Tommy. Tell me, do I look like anything that you've fought out there?"

If it weren't for the heat of the lava behind him, Tommy would have thought he'd been frozen. Dream was...normal. Frighteningly so. Of course he had a scar running across his eyebrow and down his cheek; a few along his jaw and nose (which looked like it had been broken a few times.) Everyone on the server had scars, some pretty gnarly ones too. 

It was weird to think of Dream as actually having a face, he'd been so used to just the mask. It was just sort of easier for him to be this evil, faceless entity. It made it easier to hate him, blame him, detach himself from Dream as a person. 

  
  


Maybe that's why he wore the mask to begin with. Dream never wanted people to get attached. 

Tommy's eyes narrowed with a scoff. "You don't have to look the part. You're a  _ villain _ . You lied to me, to Tubbo, to everyone! I used to think you were my friend! You keep trying to make me think you're my friend again, saying that nobody else will have me! So why do you care? Why does it matter to you to make sure you're the only one I can turn to?" He was angry,  _ furious _ at Dream, but he already knew the answer. 

The silence was deafening, Tommy wasn't even looking at the man in front of him. Suddenly a dense, but gentle hand rested on his head, fingers in his hair, freezing all of his muscles in place. 

"Because you remind me of myself." 


End file.
